dualcircles: Vietnam Tour: Day 2 (22nd Aug) Hue to Hoi An

Today is the first day of some real cycling, looking forward to spending some time on the saddle.

Sadly, it didn't start off quite too well... I slept on a queen sized double deck top bunk in a big room with a barely working air-con. It was fine when the fan was on, but the fan stopped working after 12mn... More people checked in after that (I recall 10 other people in the same room), I tried hard to sleep but eventually woke up at 5+ and decidedly to get moving.. After gathering my stuff, i opened the door to see two ladies sleeping outside on beach chairs (definitely too hot inside). I forgot to take something and leave the door of the room ajar (to let some light in) to see the first guy sleeping ass naked.

Many rice fields but little hills on the way to HV pass.

Anyway, today was to be a day to climb the Hai Van pass. But before that, there were actually 2 more smaller 1km passes, so what are passes? Highway 1A is mostly flat since it follows the coast line (sea level) but inevitably there are some hills/mountains that stand in the way... And so you have to go over them. I don't know if Singapore has a 1km climb but the first one I hit was already rather demoralizing.


These are the highway's truckers! On one of the passes the road winds and just when I thought the truck was going to destroy the grey van on the right. (Grey van wanted to overtake on a blind corner, saw the truck but ended up out of his lane) Luckily he stopped...

Long and slow, I quickly realize that I have to slow down and just take it easy instead of the usual chiong up and coast down like some Malaysia rides I have done.


One of the passes I passed, some sort of viewing point where some ang mohs (to the right off picture, stopped to take pictures), pretty good view!


The incoming mountains threaten to swallow me whole..

On one of the passes, I was approached and asked to purchase some postcards, I didn't want any and he asked me where I was from and to give him some currency from Singapore to add to his collection (displayed to me in a photo album). Just for him to keep as a souvenir... I didn't want to give him any, seems like a scam to me... Gather enough of each currency and go to a money changer for some easy cash. But who knows?

So two passes later, I get to the beginning of Hai Van pass, almost immediately it was a 8-10% gradient (there were road signs there that said so) and I drop to granny and take it slow. I was pretty psyched, to see just how epic the climb was and was not disappointed..

I look back from where I came, where I had my lunch and to my right the open sea. Just 15mins of climbing and the view!


Roughly an 45mins of climbing and the top no where in sight... I'm running out of water and starting to take more breaks (I stop here admiring the long road I have climbed thus far.)

The going gets tough after an hour, the road itself was perfectly fine, mostly motorcycles and the occasional truck that carries oil. There is actually a tunnel that bypasses this pass but only vehicles with four wheels or greater can use it, and I guess for safety reasons, no oil! The agony seems prolonged due to riding at single digit speed, lack of water, the sun bearing down on me, no road side stalls, and just your mind wondering when it's going to end...

And it couldn't come sooner! After the final bend you could see stalls and vehicles parked, spurring me to push on!

Some ruins of a fort at the top, there were bullets holes in them!

Stalls!!! My salvation!! DRINKS!

Wah, the other side of the HV pass... Looks great! Danang here I come!

The panoramic view was so good, looks like some sort of bay.. Good stuff.

The way down was so quick, I was doing 40km/h most of the time, very cool wind too. Once down, I was thinking the original plan is to head for Danang and stay there... But Hoi An is less populated only about 30km more, I could stay one night at Danang, than another at Hoi An... But why not save a day for somewhere else (like HCMC or Tuy Hoa or Da Lat)... So head to Hoi An it is!

As I got closer to Danang, traffic was higher (probably why I don't like the cities), but luckily the road got wider. It got extremely dusty and felt polluted... I cycled on and on and was looking for some food... The problem was that on my right were railway tracks, which meant no stalls could operate! The stalls were all on the other side! And a huge divider was in the way... And going over would mean time lost! So I went on and on and on...

I felt like it was 2 hours before I finally saw an opening in the tracks and a food stall right in front of it! I pointed to whatever the others were having and sat down, my ass was hurting.

Turned out to be duck porridge! Nice and peppery too!

They had free Vietnam tea which I happily drank, it was so refreshing.... The meal was good! Some curious stares at myself and the bike.. And after applying sunblock, I was off again.

Curious, when the transported becomes part of the transport! Intriguing.

I soon, approach a junction where I turn left toward Hoi An and away from the highway.. The road gets more bumpy narrow but less crowded. Less than 20kms more, but it always seems the last kilometers are somehow always the longest.

A very large boat, in a very small river which is apparently a newly opened restaurant!

There was a nice country side feel on the way in, and once in the old town itself... Very calming... It was like Chinatown with the old shop houses and 2-feet walkways.... I struggle to find a cheap place to stay, settle for An Hoi Hotel (Cost twice the previous lodging! but all the rest I asked cost more!). Cleaned up, and headed out for dinner. I chose a placed called Sun Shine, but it was quite a long walk to get there... But according to reviews, it's worth it!